Scuba diving is a very popular activity. One of the time consuming inconveniences of getting prepared for a scuba dive is mounting the oxygen tanks to the harness worn about the torso of the diver. The oxygen cylinders are fairly heavy and bulky, thus making the mounting procedure particularly cumbersome and difficult. Oxygen cylinders are also worn by fire fighters and rescue personnel working in hazardous locations.
Presently, a very common way of securing these tanks to the harness is by tightening a band that is attached to the harness. The band girdles the circumference of the cylinder. Multiple oxygen cylinders are typically held together with a banding assembly which provides proper alignment of the cylinders relative to the valve manifold. The banding assembly is commonly attached to the harness via bolts passing through the cylinder bands.
Adjusting the above mounting apparatus is often very time consuming, because once the belting is loosened, the alignment must be reconfigured. Precise adjustment is necessary because nylon webbing, that can loosen when wet, creates the potential for the primary cylinder to slip from the harness during a dive.
Accordingly, it would be very useful to be able to quickly mount and remove the heavy and bulky oxygen tanks or other cylinders from a support harness.
The present invention introduces a quickly assembled and disassembled mounting bracket system for oxygen tanks. The two interconnecting parts comprise a bracket section and a mounting plate section. The bracket section is slidable within the mounting plate base, similar to a rail system. The two interconnecting pieces slidably interlock via spaced-apart T-section connectors. Movement during assembly is minimal. The two pieces are quickly joined. Limiting stops provide mating alignment. Once in the aligned position, two locking detent pins are inserted through alignment holes disposed in the mating sections to secure the two parts in place.
The mounting assembly, while most usefully employed for oxygen tanks, can also be used to mount similar items, such as pony bottles.